[CentOS] running yum update on remote servers

Mon Feb 25 14:56:10 UTC 2013
m.roth at 5-cent.us <m.roth at 5-cent.us>

Robert Moskowitz wrote:
> I have read a couple old threads here on updates for servers, and I am
> looking for some mechanics to getting the actual updates done.  I don't
> want automatic updates; I want to control when and what gets updated.

Yeah, prod servers are nasty that way. You always want to do test or dev
or the backup first, and wait a bit.
<snip>
> Then there is the actual update.  I learned long ago NOT to run yum over
> an SSH connection, as WHEN that connection breaks in the middle of an
> update, you can have quite a problem to clean up.  All I have done

That sounds, to me, as though you have very serious communications issues
that need to be solved, and yesterday. We've used ssh here, and at my
previous two? three? contracts, for years, and almost *never* have an ssh
connection break.

We've got about 150 servers and workstations here, and I do most of the
updates, and all of it with yum over ssh, though I've had times when I
just yum -y update &, and check the logs in the morning.

       mark